U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,476 describes a mobile cellular telephone that has a plurality of user adjustable operating characteristics such as the sound volume, the ringing tone type, and whether features such as key tones, warning tones, lights and call transfer are on or off. The user can adjust the operating characteristics of the phone en masse by selecting one of a plurality of groups of pre-set values for the operating characteristics.
US 2003/0017848 describes personalizing an electronic device by attaching one of a number of different interchangeable covers, each of which has its own theme. Each cover has an embedded electronic component that provides theme oriented features in the electronic device. The theme oriented features may include a ring tone, games, a screen saver, and a default voice mail greeting. The embedded electronic component may also transfer to the electronic device names, phone numbers, resource server specifications, email addresses, and media content such as animation, audio or video. Interchanging covers of the electronic device changes the theme of the electronic device.
These documents describe the customisation of an electronic device, such as a mobile cellular telephone, by varying the manner of presentation by the device and the data available for use in the device.
The documents do not however address a current problem in mobile electronic devices. As mobile electronic devices get smaller and more feature rich, they become increasing more difficult to use. In particular, the menu of a device becomes complex and difficult to navigate. This is exacerbated when the menu is designed as a ‘flat’ hierarchy so that all menu options are accessible within a minimum number of keystrokes.